A PILOT has earned her captain stripes with Loganair aged just 26 years old as she hopes to encourage more young women to consider a career in aviation.
Rachel Gilmour, who grew up in Largs, has been flying Loganair’s flights from Glasgow to Stornoway or Benbecula and has recently been promoted to the rank of captain with the airline.
Gilmour is only 5% of women in the industry in Europe and had wanted to become a pilot at a young age due to her love of travel.
After attending a pilot career’s day with her dad at Heathrow Airport, Gilmour started flying at the Tayside Aviation school based in Dundee where she qualified to become an instructor at just 22 years old.
She then joined Loganair as a pilot aged 24 and moved to Aberdeen where she earned her stripes as second in command before heading back to Glasgow to fly from the airline’s HQ at Glasgow Airport.
Gilmour said “age is really just a number” as she has urged other young women to get involved in careers like hers.
She said: “It’s an honour to be able to fly for Loganair and I especially love providing that lifeline service for people to connect them to the mainland which is something really special.
“Loganair has given me the opportunity to get a lot of experience under my belt and I'm really proud to now be a Captain at just 26 years old.
“Age is really just a number, and I really hope I can encourage more young women and girls to consider roles like mine.”
Gilmour will continue to transport passengers to and from Stornoway and Benbecula, as well as other seasonal routes, on an Embraer 145 aircraft.
She added: “I’ve not had the chance to fly any of my friends or family yet as I was based in Aberdeen previously but I’ve flown my partner on a few occasions and he’s always given me the thumbs up on landing.”
